Dell 2005FPW "blurry" issue: me, driver, display?

D

duggage

n00b
Joined
May 21, 2005
Messages
4
Issue:
When images scroll across the physical screen, they appear blurry. If images keep relative position, they are crisp.

Examples: Playing WoW. Everything is crisp while standing still. My character always appears crisp because he's always in the middle of the screen. If I run alongside someone in the same direction we both look crisp. If, however, I strafe so that other characters/images/tables/etc move across the screen from left to right, all of those characters become blurry until such motion stops. Then they become crisp again. While all those characters are blurry, my character remains crisp, as does my UI.

Similarly, while Playing Age of Mythology: Titans, if I scroll across the map, everything blurs until I stop scrolling. However, if I click on the mini-map to change locations, everything just jumps to the new position and is crisp. I tested other games and found similar issues.

In comparison to my 19" flat-panel crt, the crt would more be more jagged and less fluid while I strafe, but names/images would not be so out of focus.

I was on the phone with Dell for a couple hours trouble-shooting after I myself had already gone through many motions. Latest gpu drivers, revert to original gpu drivers, pre-release detonator drivers, etc. About the only two things I didn't do there was reinstall my game and reinstall my OS. I updated my mobo firmware/drivers not long ago. Vsync is on(although I think I have to look for and maybe try out "wait for vsync" from some reading I did).

My specs:
Asus A7N8X Dlx NForce2
2500+ Barton AMD XP
Windows XP
BFG NVIDIA 6800GT OC
1 gig ram(dual-channel- both cpu and ram are 333 Mhz)
Display is Rev A01, May(05), Mexico- running in optimal res(1680X1050 or whatever) and 60Hz refresh.

1. Why could it be me? I'm not used to playing on an LCD. I've used the same monitor for gaming for the past 4ish years. I'm worried about change/buyer's remorse. But hopefully it is really that there is some setting hiding somewhere that I have to trip to make everything okay.

2. Why could it be the driver? Because maybe there is a setting I haven't set properly. Or NVIDIA hasn't put out an update that fixes this issue?

3. Why could it be the display? Maybe it's from a bad batch? The issues seems to indicate a level of blurry when pixels have to flush across the screen as opposed to just changing state. This can also be referred to as ghosting, but I've been under the impression from several friends and reviews that the 2005FPW has very little of that(if any).


Now the kicker: I bought two of these displays(same day) and they both exhibit the same quality. The other machine also uses an NForce2 board(non-deluxe), but has a 4400Ti card, a weaker processor, etc. This fact makes me consider hard that 1 or 3 is more likely. That or Nvidia has a serious driver issue with regards to this.

Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

D
 
Hate to say it, but that sounds like ghosting. It's always present on an LCD, due to how the technology works. From what i've read, some people are very sensitive to it, some aren't. I have a 2001fp (16ms response time), and i see similar behavior (strafe in Farcry or Doom III, or just drag a window fast across the screen, things get blurry), though it doesn't bother me much.
 
I've been talking with one of my friends who recently got one(last monthish) and he seeems to be of a similar opinion as you just stated. He said at first he noticed something like what I described, but just got used to it. Another of my friends, however, maintains that he doesn't have that problem. They are both using similar/same ATI cards. So I can't really isolate it that way.

I will probably try to adapt, but will likely have Dell ship me another LCD(hopefully from A02 Rev) first just to make sure I didn't get some crappy "tail end of A01" displays.

D
 
Some people are just more sensitive to the blur than the others. That explains why you can see the blurring and your friend can't even though both of you have the same monitor. I highly doubt it's the monitor that is faulty. If it bothers you that much send it back and replace it with a CRT or a faster LCD.
 
I have the Dell 2405FPW and it doesn't have a small amount of ghosting.

I also play WOW so I'll use it for my example.


While running around, I noticed that if I focus my eyes on my character, everything in my perhipheral vision looks crisp even if it is scrolling across the screen. However, if I take my eyes off my character and focus on an object that is scrolling across the screen it takes on a slightly smudged appearance. For instance, the text above players names will be illegible until they stop moving across the screen.

This is normal for an LCD and is the effect of ghosting. 90% of the time your eyes aren't focused on objects that pan across the screen, they merely occupy your perhipheral vision and so this isn't a concern... but during the time you want to focus on the moving objects, it can be a slight distraction.
 
I just moved from a CRT to a 8ms LCD, let me tell you, there is STILL ghosting. I am feeling a little remorse here, I have 30 days to get used to this, if not, it's back to the 50lb beast.
-Steve
 
PKFGimpy said:
While running around, I noticed that if I focus my eyes on my character, everything in my perhipheral vision looks crisp even if it is scrolling across the screen. However, if I take my eyes off my character and focus on an object that is scrolling across the screen it takes on a slightly smudged appearance. For instance, the text above players names will be illegible until they stop moving across the screen.

This is normal for an LCD and is the effect of ghosting. 90% of the time your eyes aren't focused on objects that pan across the screen, they merely occupy your perhipheral vision and so this isn't a concern... but during the time you want to focus on the moving objects, it can be a slight distraction.
Click to expand...

Hmm... this is pretty much what is going on. I just logged into WoW and decided to test out your focus description. If I put an NPC's name directly in my line of sight and strafe back and forth while focusing on just my own character, I can tell that the name remains relatively clear. However, as you said, if I actually try to look at the NPC while strafing, his name is unreadable. I can't really tell all that much about the character model while I'm focusing on myself as... I'm focusing on myself. If I run straight forward, everthing appears crisp. If I turn(even while still) or strafe, everything else decrispifies until I stop that type of motion.

And unfortunately, where FPS/combat games are concerned, players' eyes ARE focused on panning object 90% of the time. I'm not staring at my ammo count or X-hairs. I'm looking for targets. What is the point of having a ton of real estate if you can only see great detail in games(like WoW or HL2) while you are standing still? When was the last time standing still in HL2 was an option? ;)

I honestly can't believe the distortion is so pronounced and yet the 2005FPW is posted about as being great for games, clear, no ghosting, etc. Hopefully checking out a friends prior batch display this evening will give me more conclusive evidence one way or the other.

D
 
I went over and looked at my friend's 2005 display. It's the _same_ thing that I'm seeing. Apparently the issue is not as noticable in the 2001(I looked at one of those a couple days prior).

However... in a game like Republic Commando(which he fired up after I verified the blurring in WoW), it was not as noticable- Geonosa area.

So apparently it's going to be a "get used to it" or switch to a 2001 or go back to a crt.

The only hope left is that the replacement coming is an A02 rev with some sort of improvement.

D
 
i noticed the same 'blurry' peripheral objects yesterday. I'm not sure if it will keep bothering me in the long run. The main reason it worries me is that some games can cause me to get a motion sickness headache that takes hours to clear. It really depends on the game. I started getting it a bit yesterday during Psychonauts, and it continued after playing UT2k4... i'll have to do some more testing, but i really hope it works out.

i think the main reaction to the 2005fpw being a good gaming monitor is just that the games look so freakin' good. Far Cry at 1680x1050 is beautiful. my samsung 955df 19" CRT just did not look this vibrant and colorful. motion blur aside, and a bit of "tearing" which maybe something some tweaking can alleviate, this monitor is the most impressive i've ever owned...

stumbled across this nifty resource the other day.
 
If it hasn't been mentioned: turn on V-Sync (esp to take care of the tearing)
 
v6maro said:
I just moved from a CRT to a 8ms LCD, let me tell you, there is STILL ghosting. I am feeling a little remorse here, I have 30 days to get used to this, if not, it's back to the 50lb beast.
-Steve
Click to expand...
It's not ghosting of the LCD panel. It's caused by a differences in the human visual system and how the LCD presents the information. Your eyes follow moving objects on the display and percieve them to be blurry because they are not moving smoothly (because a TFT LCD is not an impulse display), but they are actually very sharp and are not really blurry.

If you want to prove this to yourself instead of taking my word for it put a small piece of tape on the screen or a sticky note so you have something static to focus on while scrolling around, and you will see that as text or other things move by the point on the screen you are focused on with your eyes you will see they are sharp and not actually blurry like they seem when your eyes try to track them.
 
You could also download this program http://www.download.com/TechPCvg/3000-2194-10322844.html?part=dl-TechPCvg&subj=dl&tag=button

There is a motion pattern (motion 1) in there and you can adjust the speed of the box. Speed the box up to 5 or higher and watch the box. It will look like it has blurry edges. Then put your mouse pointer in the middle of the screen (so the box goes under it as it goes back and forth) and stare at the mouse. You will see that as the box goes under the mouse pointer it is actually sharp despite looking blurry when you eye tries to track it.
 
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